Hong Kong China
Thu, 18 Mar 2021 15:17:02 +0800Mainland summons tech giants for security talks
Chinese authorities on Thursday summoned 11 tech companies including Tencent, Alibaba, and TikTok parent ByteDance, for talks on internet security – as regulators step up scrutiny on the country's high-flying firms.
Officials have in recent month...
Thu, 18 Mar 2021 14:17:59 +0800Taiwan urges people not to change name to 'Salmon'
A top Taiwanese official issued a plea on Thursday for people to stop changing their name to "salmon" after dozens made the unusual move to take advantage of a restaurant promotion.
In a phenomenon that has been dubbed "Salmon Chaos" by local media,...
Thu, 18 Mar 2021 13:31:58 +0800France rebuffs China after Taiwan visit warning
French Senators are free to meet whomever they wish when they travel, the country's foreign ministry says, after the Chinese embassy in Paris warned against lawmakers meeting officials during an upcoming visit to Taiwan.
China's ambassador in Februa...
Thu, 18 Mar 2021 08:24:37 +0800China to put two Canadians on trial in coming days
China will put two Canadians on trial within days following their arrests more than two years ago in apparent retaliation for the detention of a top Huawei executive, the Canadian government said on Wednesday.
Relations between Beijing and Ottawa ha...
Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:52:33 +0800Taiwan bolsters South China Sea deployments
Taiwan's newly-appointed defence minister said on Wednesday that Taipei has strengthened deployments in the disputed South China Sea and that the United States has approved the export of sensitive technology to equip Taiwan's new submarine fleet.
Sp...
Wed, 17 Mar 2021 00:54:43 +0800Don't 'politicise' trade deal, Beijing tells EU
China warned the European Union on Tuesday against planned EU sanctions for human rights violations, saying Beijing would not yield if Brussels interfered in its internal affairs.
EU ambassadors are expected on Wednesday to give the go-ahead for san...
Tue, 16 Mar 2021 15:04:36 +0800Messaging app Signal stops working on mainland
The encrypted messaging app Signal, recommended by Tesla's Elon Musk, appeared to have been blocked on the mainland on Tuesday, closing off one of the last US social media platforms still freely available in the country.
Users of the free app, which...
Tue, 16 Mar 2021 13:38:14 +0800US tells China to improve ties with Australia
The Biden administration has told China that normalising relations with Australia is a precondition to Washington taking any substantial step towards improving relations with Beijing, a senior US official said on Tuesday.
In an interview with The Sy...
Tue, 16 Mar 2021 10:04:55 +0800Sharp jump in US Navy transits to challenge China
Activity by the US Navy in its campaign to challenge China's efforts to restrict transit in the South China Sea and in the Taiwan Strait increased sharply over the past two years.
According to US Navy data, war ships maneuvered close to artificial i...
Tue, 16 Mar 2021 09:37:33 +0800China to supply UN peacekeepers with jabs
Beijing will give United Nations peacekeeping troops 300,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine, the Chinese diplomatic mission to the UN said on Monday, bolstering the 200,000 doses already pledged by India to protect 100,000 soldiers and police officers ...
Mon, 15 Mar 2021 15:31:23 +0800Didi says driver rams passenger to death
A driver employed by China's largest ride-hailing firm, Didi Chuxing, killed a passenger by ramming his car into the man after a quarrel, the firm said in a post on social media on Monday.
Police in the southeastern city of Fuzhou said the driver ha...
Mon, 15 Mar 2021 13:02:19 +0800Beijing blanketed by massive sandstorm
China’s capital and a wide swath of the country's north were enveloped on Monday in the worst sandstorm in a decade, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Skyscrapers in the centre of Beijing appeared to drop from sight amid the dust...
Mon, 15 Mar 2021 00:42:39 +0800Top Beijing officials to attend seminar in Hong Kong
RTHK sources say a number of top Beijing officials will attend a seminar on changes to Hong Kong's electoral system to be held at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on Monday.
It's understood that three deputy directors of the Hong Ko...
Sat, 13 Mar 2021 16:10:56 +0800Polar bear hotel gets chilly reception
A hotel that bills itself as the world's first "polar bear hotel" has opened in China's far northeastern Heilongjiang province, drawing both guests and criticism for its central feature: live polar bears.
The Polar Bear Hotel, part of the Harbin Pol...
Fri, 12 Mar 2021 19:12:32 +0800Macau journalists up in arms over patriotism order
Journalists at Macau’s largest broadcaster, TDM, have demanded a meeting with the station’s management, after they were ordered to stop putting out news and opinions that aren't in tune with the authorities, including on matters relating to Hong ...
Fri, 12 Mar 2021 08:24:40 +0800Canadians Spavor and Kovrig to go on trial soon
China will "soon" hold its first trial for Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who have been held in China since late 2018 and who were formally charged with espionage in June 2020, the Global Times reported, citing an unnamed source.
The t...
Thu, 11 Mar 2021 18:47:37 +0800Mainland growth target not too low, says Le Keqiang
Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday defended the government's target for more than 6 percent economic growth this year, saying it is "not low", and policies would not be dramatically loosened to chase higher growth.
The target was well below analysts exp...
Thu, 11 Mar 2021 13:23:50 +0800China blasts BBC again for 'biased reporting'
China is complaining anew about recent reporting by the BBC, days after summoning the British ambassador to Beijing to register displeasure over a recent article she penned defending press freedom.
The Chinese Embassy in London posted a statement o...
Wed, 10 Mar 2021 17:27:10 +0800US hyping up threat of Taiwan invasion, says Beijing
Beijing on Wednesday accused a top US commander of attempting to "hype up" the threat of an invasion of Taiwan to inflate Washington's defence spend and justify its own military chicanery in Asia.
The US' top military officer in Asia-Pacific, Admira...
Wed, 10 Mar 2021 14:23:02 +0800LinkedIn China halts new sign-ups to 'respect law'
Microsoft-owned social network LinkedIn has halted new member sign-ups for its service in China while it reviews its compliance with local laws, the company said in a statement.
The careers-focused site has had a Chinese-language presence since 2014...